The government’s decision to start an open toll payment system involving only five highways across the country first was done to ensure that the system could function properly before expanding to other highways. Public Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said that although several other concession companies have shown interest and expressed willingness to participate in the payment system, the effort cannot be implemented in a hurry without first studying and developing plans.
“Most importantly, the proposed system is tested first before it is fully implemented. This is to avoid any problems in the future that will trouble users,” he said on his official Facebook today. Nanta recently announced that it will implement an open payment system to allow users to pay tolls using debit and credit cards by this September. The highways involved are Sungai Besi Highway, Baru Pantai Highway, Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway, Guthrie Corridor Highway, and Penang Bridge. Commenting further, Nanta said efforts to implement the open toll payment system had been made by the Ministry of Public Works (KKR) team from the Development and Privatization Division (BPP) since 2022. He said it took a long time because the matter was not an easy matter and had to go through many processes.
It includes technical, legal and financial aspects that need to be refined and clarified by all parties involved before the decision to start this open payment system on the first five highways can be reached. Meanwhile, commenting on the question of which party is responsible for making decisions and ensuring the implementation of the open payment system, Nanta said all sources of authority for the implementation of the toll payment system and everything related is subject to the jurisdiction of KKR.
“Accordingly, I request all parties to wait for KKR’s announcement regarding the list of alignments and highways that are ready to implement this open payment system to avoid confusion, misunderstanding, and problems among users in the future. “It will be determined after all the involved processes, technical, legal, and financial have been agreed upon by all parties involved,” he said
